Snow
by Reius Devirix
Summary: Momiji's POV on Hatori. Reviews are greatly appreciated. (NOT YAOI!!!!)


"Snow"  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to whoever made them.  
***  
  
Great.  
  
It's snowing again.  
  
I hate the snow.  
  
Not because it did something to me, but because of what it does to Hari.  
  
Others who don't know him as well as I do may not be able to see through Hatori's emotionless mask, but I can.  
  
Not that well though, mind you, but I can see past that mask enough to figure out what's going on inside him. Well... at least most of the time.  
  
Every time it snows, he suffers.  
  
Outside he seems impassive. But on the inside I know he's miserable.  
  
I know because of certain subtle unusual things I've learned to take note of.  
  
Like for example, when he stands next to a window and just watches the snow falling while he smokes his cigarette. If you talk to him he doesn't answer but most people dismiss this as his usual 'I'm-ignoring-you-silence'. But I've lived with him long enough to know what to notice and when to notice. You'll see that his eyes are more blank than usual. His expression more stoic.  
  
Ever since the 'incident', Hari was chosen as my legal guardian until I'm of official age to live on my own. It was either this or move back into the main house.  
  
Most people thought that we wouldn't work out. Seeing as how our personalities contrast so much, it's not much of a surprise.  
  
He being quiet, cold, and emotionless.  
  
Me being overly cheerful, naïve, and childish.  
  
Another fact was that some people thought I hated Hari for what he did to my mother.  
  
Erasing her memories and all.  
  
But I don't.  
  
Even though I'm still young, I understand why Hari did what he did. He didn't do it on purpose. He just did his job. He just did what everyone thought was the best.  
  
I love Hari. I look up to him and respect him. I think he's more of a father to me than my real father is. I've always thought that I was lucky that it was Hatori they picked as my guardian rather than somebody else.  
  
True, he's very strict and can be quite cold sometimes when I do something wrong but I know that it's his own way of showing that he cares for me.  
  
Oh, he's home.  
  
And he went straight to his room after checking if I've eaten. He looked upset about something.  
  
It couldn't have been the snow. He's more upset than he usually is.  
  
That must mean.....  
  
.....Akito.  
  
If there's one person that I really don't like, it's Akito Souma, Head of the Clan who rules with an iron fist.  
  
He brings misery to every Souma who's cursed by the Jyunishi. He likes to punish us, claiming that we are his possession. He likes to make us feel pain physically and emotionally.  
  
I haven't actually experienced being the brunt of his anger but some of the others have.  
  
One of them is Hatori.  
  
3 years ago, Hatori fell in love with a woman named Kana. I really liked her 'cause she managed to draw Hatori out of his emotionless shell. She was really nice too.  
  
Anyway, Hatori announced that he had decided on marrying Kana. Everyone was so supportive and so pleased with the news. But there was still a problem. Yup, it was Akito.  
  
As clan head, he had the right to make decisions, whether or not the Souma's didn't like it, especially if that Souma was a Jyunishi.  
  
So Hari went to Akito to get his approval. But Akito got really angry. He was so enraged that he blinded Hari's left eye. I'm sure Akito would have done more if Shigure hadn't been there to restrain him. Then to make matters worse, he blamed what happened to Hatori to Kana. He told her that it was her fault for making him angry, for being the cause of Hari's injury, for being the cause of Hatori's suffering.  
  
This sent Kana over the edge and she cried and cried. She felt guilty and, of course, blamed herself for what happened.  
  
Hari couldn't bear to see Kana cry. He couldn't bear to see her suffering because of him. Using this advantage, Akito convinced Hari to erase Kana's memories. Erase her memories of ever having met him, of ever having loved him.  
  
That was the first time the dragon ever cried.  
  
At that moment I decided that I hated Akito. Hatori should never have suffered that. I know that most of the Souma's don't like Akito that much too but only the Jyunishies could understand what Hari went through. All the Jyunishies hate Akito really bad. Shigure may not look it but I know he was seething inside, we all know that it was a lot of effort for him keep from beating Akito to senseless. Hari is one of his bestfriends, afterall. The night Hari erased Kana's memories was one of the only times that Shigure ever let his anger show. He was scary. At that time, he was scarier than Akito.  
  
We all knew the real reason why Akito did that. It was because he thought of us, Jyunishi, as his most prized possessions. He sees us as his dolls not as real persons. He can do whatever he wishes with us. He always says that no one can take the us away from him. We are his.  
  
I think that what stopped all of us from actually building up a tirade against Akito was the fact that Hari never even seemed to blame him. After the 'incident' he just went about his daily routines. He even did his normal check up of Akito like it was the most normal thing in the world. Well...for him, anyway.  
  
I was puzzled at Hari's actions. Any person, Jyunishi or not, would have cursed Akito to the ends of the earth for what he did. I thought it was because of the shock but I realized that he blamed himself for what happened. He became colder than before and more emotionless. He attained an almost unreachable status. He became the heartless dragon that was his curse.  
  
I love him so much that I promised myself that I would do everything just to break that indifferent mask of his. So, when Tohru came I knew this was my opportunity.  
  
Hatori let some of his old self back with Torhu's presence. Hatori once told me that Tohru reminded him of Kana. He then, like the rest of us who had fallen under Tohru's spell, vowed to do whatever he can to protect her from Akito's wrath.  
  
I don't know how we'll do that now since I've just been to Hari's room and found out what he is so upset about. He said that there was gonna' be a new addition to his 'this-is-my-fault-list'. Akito had called him to the main house and had finally given the order that would take Tohru away from us forever.  
  
He had ordered Hari to erase Tohru's memories of ever having anything to do with the Soumas.  
  
In this moment I accomplished my promised task but with a terrible price:  
  
Hatori's mask finally crumbled to pieces in exchange for Tohru's existence in our life.  
  
I cried.  
  
He cried.  
  
***  
  
Note: I know that this fic is bad but review, pls. And please read my friend's, Kaekamui's, fanfic too. 


End file.
